The number of farmers in Austria continues to fall, although the rate of “farm death” has slowed in recent years. That is the core statement of the 2020 agricultural structure survey by Statistics Austria, which was presented yesterday, Tuesday. EU member states are obliged to collect this data every ten years.
While there were 173,300 agricultural and forestry businesses in Austria in 2010, there were around 154,600 in 2020 (see chart). That means a minus of around 19,000 or eleven percent. For comparison: in the previous decade, the decline was around 20 percent.
“Conversely, however, the average total size of domestic companies has been increasing for years,” said Tobias Thomas, Director General of Statistics Austria, at an online press conference. In 2020 it was 44.9 hectares per farm – including unused areas – after 42.6 in 2010 and 31.5 when the EU joined in 1995.
Structural change is “a reality in all economic areas, not just in agriculture. But since joining the EU, it has been possible to slow it down,” said Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig (VP). Farmers are under pressure to cultivate larger areas so that production is profitable. A lack of a successor is also often a reason why a company has to close.
Austria is trying to contain the structural change with several measures, such as subsidies for environmentally friendly management and mountain farmers, said Totschnig. Domestic farmers are currently confronted with increased operating costs due to the war in Ukraine. However, the small-scale structure of domestic agriculture and the high proportion of family businesses created stability in an international comparison.
93 percent of domestic agriculture and forestry are in family hands. 36 percent of the businesses are run as a main occupation, 57 percent as a sideline. The remaining seven percent are partnerships and legal entities. According to the survey, the number of organic farms rose from 15 to 22 percent.
More livestock per farm
The trend towards fewer but larger farms is also reflected in animal husbandry: if a local farmer kept 28 cattle in 2010, the average in 2020 was 34. The average number of pigs per farm rose from 85 to 112 animals, and the number of sheep increased from 27 to 33, in goats from eight to twelve. However, these are significantly fewer livestock than in farms in other countries, such as Germany or the Netherlands. (Rome)
Source: Nachrichten
